Tootfinder

While immigrants do contribute to rising housing demand,
they are not the primary drivers of increasing housing costs.
Instead, factors such as housing shortages,
restrictive zoning laws,
and shifts in housing preferences in the wake of the pandemic
are the more dominant forces behind rising prices.
Furthermore, immigrant workers are essential to the housing supply, making up a crucial segment of the construction workforce that can address shortages and …

Vance Blames Immigrants, Biden in Response to Affordability Questions
There is no significant relationship between immigration rates and rising housing costs in the US, experts have said.

Gasoline and diesel shortages spread across Russia as stations run dry and prices jump: https://benborges.xyz/2025/10/14/gasoline-and-diesel-shortages-spread.html

[OT] We may soon all be hanging on to our old laptops until an AI bubble burst makes chips affordable again https://mashable.com/article/laptop-price-increase-ddr5-ram-ai All signs point to big laptop and smartphone price increases due to escalating memory shortage.

All signs point to big laptop price increases due to memory shortages
Better get a laptop now if you need one.

Sources: Samsung raised the prices of some memory chips by 30%- 60% compared to September, amid shortages, adding to stress for companies building data centers (Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/samsung-hikes-m…

"Water shortages could derail UK’s net zero plans, study finds"
#UK #UnitedKingdom #NetZero

Illness, animal deaths and water shortages: life inside Chile’s polluted ‘sacrifice zones’ https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/sep/22/illness-animal-deaths-water-shortages-chile-po…

FAA to throttle back flights in parts of the US as shutdown worsens air traffic controller shortages (Sam Ogozalek/Politico)
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/05/faa-to-throttle-back-flights-in-parts-of-the-us-as-shutdown-worsens-air-traffic-controller-shortages-00638346
http://www.memeorandum.com/251105/p132#a251105p132

Not sure what to make of this survey given its sponsors, but it's true that water management in the UK is a mess. We have no clue who's using what. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/30/water-shortages-could-derai…

Water shortages could derail UK’s net zero plans, study finds
Tensions grow after research in England finds there may not be enough water for planned carbon capture and hydrogen projects

It WILL get worse.
The upside here is that the overwhelming majority of Americans are entirely unaffected by air travel problems the overwhelming majority of the time. However, most members of Congress routinely commute by air on a weekly basis.
https://flipboard.com/@…

The government shutdown is snarling air travel. Officials say it could get worse
Travelers across the U.S. are beginning to feel the impacts of the government shutdown, as air traffic control staffing shortages disrupt flights across the country. A dozen Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) facilities saw staffing shortages on Monday, according to an evening advisory from the …

Achieving Meaningful Collaboration: Worker-centered Design of a Physical Human-Robot Collaborative Blending Task
Nicky Mol, Luka Peternel, Alessandro Ianniello, Denis Zatyagov, Auke Nachenius, Stephan Balvert, J. Micah Prendergast, Sara Muscolo, Olger Siebinga, Eva Verhoef, Deborah Forster, David A. Abbink
https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.12340

Achieving Meaningful Collaboration: Worker-centered Design of a Physical Human-Robot Collaborative Blending Task
The use of robots in industrial settings continues to grow, driven by the need to address complex societal challenges such as labor shortages, aging populations, and ever-increasing production demands. In this abstract, we advocate for (and demonstrate) a transdisciplinary approach when considering robotics in the workplace. Transdisciplinarity emphasizes the integration of academic research with pragmatic expertise and embodied experiential knowledge, that prioritize values such as worker well…

Oh, look, the result of anti-immigration fascists' policies are labor shortages.
Who would've known?
(unless it's paired with starting a global trade war, I suppose; in that case you'd get an economic slump, bankrupcies and unemployment... if you don't TACO)
https://…

Italy's right-wing government unveils new work permit plan to address labor shortages
The Italian government has announced a significant increase in the issuance of work permits for non-EU workers, planning to distribute 500,000 …

Some months ago, Trump ordered the halt of minting pennies. OK. Now there is a #Penny shortage coming. Fine.
Problem is: There is no accompanying #law.
"Without the production of new pennies, cash transactions would need to be rounded to the nearest nickel. There are some states and loca…

Sources: Oracle has pushed back completion dates for some data centers it is building for OpenAI from 2027 to 2028, largely due to labor and material shortages (Brody Ford/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025…

From various rumors and sources it appears that Open AI - a company organized under Delaware law but with HQ in California - is the cause of the tripling of computer memory prices and shortages.
Word is that Open AI bought up all of the large wafers from Samsung and Hynix that are used to make memory. The intention seems to be to corner the market in order to hobble Open AI's competition.
I am not an expert in either Federal or State laws on anti-competitive practices.

Hollywood Burbank Airport’s air traffic control tower is temporarily unmanned due to staffing shortages during the government shutdown.
Air traffic controllers are working without pay during the shutdown,
leading to an uptick in workers calling out sick.
Outgoing flights have been delayed an average of two hours and 31 minutes,
with several flights canceled.

Burbank Airport air traffic control tower unmanned amid government shutdown
The Hollywood Burbank Airport's air traffic control tower is temporarily unmanned and flights are delayed Monday afternoon due to staffing shortages amid the ongoing government shutdown, according to the FAA

imagine spinning a little jet engine capable of supersonic flight next time you prompt your favorite LLM / genAI...
naturally, there are companies producing gas turbines for data centers, but like with RAM memory and SSD, the unexpected growth of data centers caused shortages, hence repurposing of jet engines for energy production...

Russia's exhausted economy: sanctions, oil refineries under attack, and labor shortages | Explainer: https://benborges.xyz/2025/10/11/russias-exhausted-economy-sanctions-oil.html

Good Morning #Canada
Like most Canadians I suspect our grocery bill this week will be over budget as we prepare for a family #Christmas dinner and a week of holiday goodies. But help is on the way in January with the implementation of the Grocery Code of Conduct. Colour me skeptical but I'm not sure this is going to solve the issue of high grocery bills. I understand the attempt to eliminate unnecessary costs in the supply food chain. As a former manager in logistics, the fines and charges for missed delivery windows, fulfillment shortages or even the wrong pallets used, are real. But any reduction in supply chain costs will likely be absorbed as profit, not passed on to consumers. A far more effective solution would be an Excess Profits Tax where companies are charged a penalty tax when they earn profit that is unreasonable or above expectations, such as during COVID or a period of inflation.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Profiteering
https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/article/what-canadians-need-to-know-about-the-grocery-code-of-conduct/

Japan faces bottlenecks in data center construction due to labor shortages and more; DC Byte says Japan's capacity has tripled to 6.8 GW in the past five years (Tsubasa Suruga/Nikkei Asia)
https://asia.nikkei.com/business/techn

Bottlenecks in data center construction threaten Japan's AI ambitions
Labor shortages, rising costs and outdated building processes delay construction

The Labor Department warned in an obscure document filed with the Federal Register last week that
“the near total cessation of the inflow of illegal aliens” is threatening “the stability of domestic food production and prices for U.S. consumers.”

“Unless the Department acts immediately to provide a source of stable and lawful labor, this threat will grow,” the Labor Department said

Trump administration says immigration enforcement threatens higher food prices
U.S. farmers face labor shortages and potential food price hikes due to Trump’s immigration policy, the administration acknowledged in a Federal Registry document.

#DrumpfAdmin #FAA Blame #Democrats As They Announce Intention Of Taking Some Air Travel Routes Off Limits Temporarily Due To Overworked & Unpaid Air Traffic Controller Shortages ...

From David Suzuki
Expanding LNG will increase prices and pollution
Higher home heating prices. Pollution. Accelerating climate change. Water shortages. Indigenous rights violations. Who wants that? Apparently the obscenely profitable fossil fuel companies, and unimaginative, short-sighted governments banking on outdated ideas to shore up the economy.
Has industry lived up to its LNG promises? A David Suzuki Foundation report concludes that it hasn’t & isn’t likely to.

Flight Delays Begin as Air Traffic Staffing Shortages Worsen (Niraj Chokshi/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/us/politics/flight-delays-faa-shutdown.html
http://www.memeorandum.com/251007/p8#a251007p8

Was wondering why there’s so few planes heading into National and I see there’s a ground stop due to staff shortages.

The cheeto-klan is trying to create pressure so that the D's cave and approve the continuing resolution to fund the government.
This is an example of that pressure...
But it is not sufficient, not even close, to consider opening up the treasury for a raid by the trumpies.
Keep the government closed!!

Burbank Airport air traffic control tower unmanned amid government shutdown
The Hollywood Burbank Airport's air traffic control tower is temporarily unmanned and flights are delayed Monday afternoon due to staffing shortages amid the ongoing government shutdown, according to the FAA

Russia expands gasoline sale restrictions amid fuel shortages, refinery strikes: https://benborges.xyz/2025/10/08/russia-expands-gasoline-sale-restrictions.html

Japanese brewer Asahi delays product launches, halts deliveries after cyberattack https://therecord.media/japan-asahi-delay-cyberattack

Which Values Matter to Socially Assistive Robots in Elder Care Settings? Empirically Investigating Values That Should Be Embedded in SARs from a Multi-Stakeholder Perspective
Vivienne Jia Zhong, Theresa Schmiedel
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.22146

Which Values Matter to Socially Assistive Robots in Elder Care Settings? Empirically Investigating Values That Should Be Embedded in SARs from a Multi-Stakeholder Perspective
The integration of socially assistive robots (SARs) in elder care settings has the potential to address critical labor shortages while enhancing the quality of care. However, the design of SARs must align with the values of various stakeholders to ensure their acceptance and efficacy. This study empirically investigates the values that should be embedded in SARs from a multi-stakeholder perspective, including care receivers, caregivers, therapists, relatives, and other involved parties. Utilizi…

The AI boom is driving memory and storage shortages that may last a decade; OpenAI's Stargate has deals for 900K DRAM wafers per month, or ~40% of global output (Luke James/Tom's Hardware)
https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components

AI data centers are swallowing the world's memory and storage supply, setting the stage for a pricing apocalypse that could last a decade
Once-cheap SSDs, DRAM, and HDD prices are climbing fast as AI demand and constrained supply converge to create the tightest market in years.

Australia's renewable energy boom is coming—and it could solve a surprising problem.
Over the next decade, we'll build more clean energy infrastructure than the past 30 years combined. But where will thousands of construction workers live in regional towns already facing housing shortages?
A new RE-Alliance report shows worker accommodation can become lasting community assets: refurbished aged-care homes, workforce villages transformed into suburbs.

SwitchedOn podcast: Renewable construction boom can help fix regional housing crisis
RE-Alliance’s national director, Andrew Bray, discusses how the energy transition can deliver important consumer benefits, particularly in housing.

Leaked documents reveal sanctions and tech shortages crippling Russia’s Su-57 and PAK DA programs: https://benborges.xyz/2025/11/04/leaked-documents-reveal-sanctions-and.html

Ukraine’s strikes on Russian refineries spark fuel shortages, export bans, and price hikes: https://benborges.xyz/2025/10/01/ukraines-strikes-on-russian-refineries.html

Dell, HP, and other tech companies are warning of potential memory-chip supply shortages in the coming year due to demand from the buildout of AI infrastructure (Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-26/te…

Around 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 TSA officers are facing work without pay,
leading to surging absences and sick says.
Since the shutdown began on October 1, staff absences have contributed to 53 percent of all flight delays compared to the usual 5 percent.
On some days almost 6,000 flights have been hit by delays, with several major airports forced to impose ground stops due to the shortages.
On Friday, more than 4,000 flights were delayed across the c…

Travel chaos as unpaid air traffic controllers abandon towers... while Thanksgiving threat looms
Americans will face more flight interruptions after Congress failed to provide last-minute relief for air-traffic controllers and aviation workers whose paychecks will stall due to the government shutdown.

Pipeline failure, mismanagement leave occupied Luhansk region without water as water shortages spread to Donetsk, Crimea: https://benborges.xyz/2025/10/25/pipeline-failure-mismanagement-leave-occupied.html

US tech giants are on a data center building spree, sparking fury worldwide; research says ~60% of the 1,244 largest global centers in June were outside the US (Paul Mozur/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/technology/ai-data-center-b…

AI Data Centers Create Fury From Mexico to Ireland
As tech companies build data centers worldwide to advance artificial intelligence, vulnerable communities have been hit by blackouts and water shortages.